DBWI Quatarra depression doens't become Quatarra lake

The Saharah is a desert, and through out most of Egyptian history the land outside of the nile was useless, but the Quatarra depression was located under sea level.

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At its narrowest it was only a mere 55 Kilometers away from the med, some people proposed a cannal between the med and the depression would create one of the largest lakes in the world. One of them was John Ball.

When Nasser took over the country he considered the project it would be incredibly expensive but it could turn much of his country green creating new cities new settlements, new farm land, but it would also be expensive.

His advisors told him he had enough money to prosecute a war against Israel or the Cannel but not enough money to do both. This was an attempt to sway him from building the cannel. Instead Nasser decided that the Cannal was more important and focused Egypt's efforts on that instead.

Dispite calls from other Arab allies Egypt would never join their efforts against Israel under Nassers leadership, and in 1970 the cannal was finished and Lake Quatarra came into existance. The sarahara or at least a large portion of it was turned green.

But what if Nasser decided against the Cannel what would Egypt look like today how would world history be changed?
 
I like the idea but if the water is coming from the Med then it would sea water. It is my understanding that most plants can not grow with sea water.

"While salt is harmful to many plant species, some thrive in it — from the smallest plankton to the tallest kelp plants. Many have their own ways of expelling or protecting themselves from the salt."
 
Not many people ultimately wanted to move, but this still bizarrely ended up creating some of the continents best wildlife reserves after the area turned green as few humans wanted to live there, but wildlife didn’t mind green(ish) land without many humans. Thankfully so many charismatic megafauna ended up there and generally thrived.
 
Well, Nasser would have been another Arab despot who uselessly gored his armies on the spears of Israel.

Instead, he wisely chose a series of infrastructure projects that drove up Egyptian living standards.
 
Well, Nasser would have been another Arab despot who uselessly gored his armies on the spears of Israel.

Instead, he wisely chose a series of infrastructure projects that drove up Egyptian living standards.


I love my people more then I hate Jews-Nasser


Nasser's focus on infastructor and the economy using the cannel mega project as a way to distract the military really did help the Egyptian economy become what it is today. Dispite being an autocrat his entire life the man did help build his country into some thing impressive.
 
I love my people more then I hate Jews-Nasser


Nasser's focus on infastructor and the economy using the cannel mega project as a way to distract the military really did help the Egyptian economy become what it is today. Dispite being an autocrat his entire life the man did help build his country into some thing impressive.

Which helped later - the Camp David accords, where he both recognized Israel, and offered to resettle any willing Palestinians along the new lakeshores was a masterstroke of diplomacy. He made an ally of his one hostile neighbor, gained access to needed laborers, and got to make himself and Egypt into international players.
 
I suppose there would be less of an American-Egyptian reconciliation ITTL also, without the cooling of tensions between Israel and Egypt. It’s not that Egypt’s America’s ally, but things are almost as cordial as they are between America and Turkey today.
 
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